Reviews

A plot common to quite a few suspense movies: apparently good guy gains affection of family, the better to obtain his greedy objectives. The alibi he creates for murder may have been clever in 1958 but today's technology would make it seem obvious.

However, the plot resolves itself to a showdown between the killer and a little girl. While the tale may echo Cape Fear, The Night of the Hunter etc, without their panache, the ultimate resolution is more like Wait Until Dark and the climax is carried off with as much tension and almost as much success. It must be nearly 30 years since I first saw both films - and I recall this climax as clearly as the better known Arkin-Hepburn performance.

Centrally focused on the nuclear power industry, James Bridges's film contains a subtext indicting the news media, particularly television. His story leaves no room to doubt that there is a nexus between the moguls of the two industries which influences the way stories are, first, treated and, secondly, presented.

He may exaggerate to make his point, but he makes it so prominent that its place cannot be overlooked in examining the whole of the film.

Bridges also knows Hitchcock's trick of frustrating the audience with the passage of time. When Kimberly's crew is waiting at a public hearing for Jack to arrive with evidence, the performance of the enviro-protesters with their neat clothes, neat black gags and silent protest is as excruciating as nails scraping a blackboard. The audience is more anxious than the characters for an arrival to put an end to it.